SOUTH AFRICA

Take advantage of South Africa’s excellent international reputation as an emerging market and member of BRICS. South Africa is the powerhouse of and gateway into Africa.

INFORMATION ON SOUTH AFRICA

South Africa is a country located in Southern Africa. It has 2,798 kilometres (1,739 mi) of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic and Indian oceans. It is the 25th-largest country in the world and has a population of approximately 53 million people. South Africa has been identified as a “middle power” in international affairs, and maintains significant regional influence. It is ranked as an upper-middle income economy by the World Bank, and is considered to be a newly industrialised country.

ADVANTAGES OF SOUTH AFRICA AS A JURISDICTION

South Africa offers a variety of vehicle types such as limited companies, public limited companies, trusts, branches, general partnerships, sole proprietorships and joint ventures.

South Africa has modern company laws.

Directors and shareholders of a South African company do not have to be South African citizens or residents.

A private South African company must have a minimum of one shareholder and one director.

A public South African company must have at least 3 directors.

South Africa has an established stock exchange and is in the world’s top 20 largest exchanges.

The registered office must be in South Africa. The street and postal addresses of the registered office must be the addresses of the business premises from where the company conducts its business.

The Income Tax Act requires that a company must appoint a representative for the company who must be resident in South Africa. The representative is the person appointed by the company to deal with the South African Revenue Services on all tax matters of the company. A partner or an employee of the auditing firm may be willing to accept the appointment as public officer.

South Africa has 14% VAT.

The country has an abundant supply of semi-skilled and unskilled labour.

South Africa has good rail and road networks connecting to other parts of Africa.

South Africa has eight international airports and 21 seaports which can facilitate the mobilisation of goods.